A-10 Thunderbolt II
The A-10 Thunderbolt II is an American single-seat, twin-engine, straight-wing jet aircraft developed by Fairchild-Republic and operated by the United States Air Force to provide close air support (CAS) of ground forces by attacking tanks, armored vehicles, and other ground targets with a limited air interdiction capability. It is designed from the ground up around the massive GAU-8 avenger 30mm cannon, and is armored to withstand incoming fire up to 23mm. It is also designed to be incredibly durable, able to fly while missing sections of its wings, an engine, or half of its tail. The A-10's official name comes from the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt of World War II, a fighter that was particularly effective at close air support. The A-10 is more commonly known by its nickname "Warthog" or simply "Hog". Battlefield 2 The A-10 Thunderbolt II is a vehicle featured in Battlefield 2: Armored Fury for the USMC. Its MEC and PLA counterparts are the Su-39 Frogfoot and the Q-5 Fantan respectively. The A-10 can use up to four unguided bombs at a time, has 500 rounds of ammunition for its main cannon and flares to stave off enemy missiles. However, it lacks afterburners for a speed boost, making it incredibly slow in comparison to fighter jets. It also lacks air-to-air missiles and must rely on is GAU-8/A Avenger gatling cannon to take out other air vehicles. For these reasons, it is best for pilots to avoid air combat and rely on either allied anti-air vehicles and emplacements, or allied fighter jets if they are pursued by enemy fighter jets. The A-10's armament suits it very well in ground-attack operations, as it can destroy up to two main battle tanks with its four bombs, or easily clear a control point of attacking infantry by a combination of strafing and bombing the area around the flag. Appearances *Operation Road Rage *Midnight Sun Gallery A-10 1.jpg|An A-10 pulls out after a bombing run on Operation Road Rage A-10 2.jpg|An A-10 dropping bombs on an unsuspecting tank. A-10 3.jpg|An A-10 uses a freeway as a makeshift landing strip on Operation Road Rage. A-10 Thunderbolt Cockpit.jpg|The cockpit of the A-10 Thunderbolt. A10 Thunderbolt Render BF2.gif|A 3D render of the A-10 Thunderbolt. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 The A-10 is a vehicle featured in Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Singleplayer The A-10 appears in the level Heavy Metal, and targets TOW launchers and RPGs that the player is told to take out. Multiplayer The A-10 only appears as an AI controlled vehicle that perform strafing runs with its GAU-8 Avenger cannon on pre-set patches of terrain. They appear as either one aircraft or two. The A-10 Thunderbolt II can be seen on the first and fourth base of Arica Harbour. One appears to delay the Russian advance in Port Valdez after the second base is taken. These jets also appear on White Pass, occosionally making low flying passes near the cliff side of the level heading off toward the Russian spawn. On the Rush variation Valparaiso the A-10s can be seen launching an airstrike after some radio conversations. The radio traffic begins after the attackers destroy the first set of M-COM stations. BC2 A10.jpg BFBC2 A-10.jpg Battlefield: Bad Company 2 iOS The A-10 Thunderbolt II is a vehicle featured in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 iOS on the level Search and Retrieve. After the player successfully defends the downed Black Hawk, the player must call in an airstrike on two T-90 tanks. After the player designates the targets, an A-10 will destroy the tank; the process is repeated with the second T-90. Battlefield Play4Free A crashed and unusable A-10 can be seen on the map Basra, on the main road between points C and B. It is mentioned in the map's description as a "crashed American plane". Battlefield 3 The A-10 Thunderbolt is a vehicle featured in Battlefield 3. Singleplayer A-10 Thunderbolts are seen providing close air support for the player's unit during Thunder Run. They make strafing runs on a PLR compound after it is designated by the player through a MAV's live feed. They are also part of the strike package in Going Hunting involved in an air raid on the Mehbrabad Airport. Multiplayer The A-10 Thunderbolt is used for close air support against incoming Russian tanks. Its Russian counterpart is the Su-25TM Frogfoot. Both the A-10 and Frogfoot feature a powerful cannon. In the case of A-10 it is the devastating GAU-8 30mm autocannon. The low speed makes it an easy target, especially for AA-vehicles. But the low speed gives it an heightened turn-speed and low turn radius. The player can equip any earned specializations for jets on the A-10. Appearances *Caspian Border *Kharg Island *Operation Firestorm *Alborz Mountains *Death Valley *Bandar Desert Gallery Thunderbolt 1.png|'A-10 Thunderbolt II'. Thunderbolt 2.png|Frontal view. Thunderbolt 4.png|Side view. Thunderbolt 3.png|Rear side view. Thunderbolt 6.png|GAU-8 Avenger HUD. Thunderbolt 7.png|Heatseekers missiles HUD. Thunderbolt 5.png|Cockpit with HUD disabled. Thunderbolt 8.png|Flying in third-person. Battlefield 4 The A-10 Warthog returns as the American attack jet in Battlefield 4. Multitplayer The A-10 Warthog is issued to the USMC in multiplayer as an attack jet. The primary role of an attack jet is to destroy enemy vehicles. Its primary weapon is the 30mm cannon, which can destroy ground vehicles with ease when coming in at a good angle. Additionally, by slowing down during an attack, it is possible to place more rounds on target than when going full-speed. This can be handy for supporting friendly vehicles, for instance during a tank on tank battle, where the A-10 can attack and deal some extra damage to the enemy. The cannon is also unaffected by IR smoke. Versus aircraft, the gun can do decent damage, but the A-10 is less maneuverable than the stealth jets and would therefore be at a disadvantage in a dog-fight against them. Secondary weaponry is mostly air-to-ground, with the exception of Heat seeking missiles. The default for the Ground attack is the guided missiles, which are capable of crippling a vehicle if both missiles strike home. However, they require a lock to be maintained. Hydra rockets function identical to their attack chopper counterparts; unguided rockets with long smoke trails. The TV Missile launches a TV missile that can be player controlled, however the player vehicle is considered "left" and will stop in mid air, so it is beneficial to get up to a certain altitude to fire upon enemies. The last weapon is the JDAM Bombs which function similar to the unguided bombs from previous game and can do major damage if both bombs hit. Heatseekers function similar to a FIM-92 Stinger a "fire and forget" anti-air weapon. With regards to countermeasures, IR flares deflect oncoming missiles; ECM makes missiles harder to detect and makes the vehicle disappear off of air radar (useful for engaging enemy players who use air radar and getting the jump on a player), and Extinguisher can be used to repair a disabled jet. As upgrades go, gyro Stabilizer helps those who are quickly disabled and help get there plane under control much easier. Auto-loader helps the 30mm guns reload quicker after overheating. Proximity scan has limited usefulness due to the fact that it detects ground vehicles and has limited range. Stealth increases lock on time for enemies targeting the user. Appearances Conquest Large *Hainan Resort *Paracel Storm * Lancang Dam *Operation Firestorm *Wave Breaker *Operation Mortar *Nansha Strike *Lost Islands Gallery BF4A10Hud1.png|Cockpit view of A-10 Thunderbolt ll BF4A10Hud2.png|Cockpit of A-10 Thunderbolt ll (HUD Disabled) Bf4A10JDAM1.png|A-10 JDAM Targeting screen (Disabled) Bf4A10JDAM2.png|A-10 JDAM Targeting screen (Enabled) Bf4A10TPV.png|A-10 Thunderbolt ll Third-Person view. Trivia Battlefield: Bad Company 2 *The strafing run from the A-10 in Port Valdez and Arica Harbor cannot damage players or anything else and is purely cosmetic. *If looking closely at the strafing runs, you will notice the A-10 Thunderbolts never actually stop firing. *Another appearance of the A-10s on Valparaiso. After the attackers capture the first base, the fishing port, before going up the next hill, dialogue between two pilots over the radio can be heard. The two pilots are receiving and confirming coordinates for an airstrike, where they can be heard using call signs and announcing the moment of the airstrike. Some of the dialogue includes them saying "Angel-four, your targets have been verified. Three, two, one, splash", followed by the sound and sight of two A-10 thunderbolts flying overhead and carpet-bombing the hillside, creating a large explosion. Like the other appearances, the airstrike does not affect gameplay whatsoever, and is just "eye-candy." A similar event can be observed involving helicopters on Panama Canal. Battlefield 3 *The A-10 used to be bugged and did not count as a vehicle in-game. As a result, no Disable/Destroy Vehicle bonuses would be received upon inflicting enough damage on vehicles, and any kills with it would count toward the kit the player is using instead of counting as jet kills. It wasn't possible to add to the A-10's kill count and time stats in Battlelog; this was fixed with patch 1.04. *During the beta, the A-10 had an unusable second seat noted by its icon. *Shooting its wing tip will cause the tip itself will blow up, leaving only the flap intact. It, however, has no effect on its maneuverability *The tail code is BD, Which is the tail code for Barksdale AFB, Louisania, United States. *In Battlefield 3, a glitch which occurs on rare occasions when a pilot ejects in mid-air, the parachute deployment and player model becomes bugged: the player is paralyzed and dragged slowly backwards by the "invisible" parachute and their arm and shoulder models appear to go missing. This also applies to the SU-25TM. Battlefield 4 * A "canopy operation" type message on the right side of the aircraft appears to have been written backwards and flipped. * If parts of the aircraft collides with objects but does not explode on impact, parts of the aircraft (such as a wing) appear to break off. A-10Message.jpg|"Canopy" Message written on "back-to-front" BF4A10RightWing.png|Right wing of the A-10 sheared off after mid-air collision (Third-Person view) BF4A10NoWing.png|Right wing of the A-10 sheared off after mid-air collision (First-Person view) External links *A-10 on Wikipedia de:A-10 Thunderbolt II Category:Vehicles of Battlefield 2 Category:Vehicles of Battlefield 3 Category:Fixed-wing Aircraft Category:Vehicles of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Category:Vehicles of Battlefield Play4Free Category:Vehicles of Battlefield 4